Heat-regulating apparatus



Oct. 28, 1930. R. E. NEWELL HEAT REGULATING APPARATUS Filed June 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Rober? E. News ATTORNEY Oct. 28, 1930. R NEWELL I HEAT REGULATING APPARATUS Filed June 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Haber? E'./Vewe)l ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES ROBERT E. N EWELL, F IRWIN, PENNSYLVANIA HEAT-REGULATING APPARATUS Application filed June 13,

relations.

One object of my invention is to provide means for protecting regulator-actuating mechanism from excessively high temperatures.

Another object of m invention is to provide means for contro ling the air currents circulating through a bellows chamber,'the said means being thermostatically actuated in accordance with the furnace temperature.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for reversing the direction of the air current circulation through a bellows chamber.

Still another object is to provide means controlled by room temperatures for adding a predetermined supply of heat to a bellows chamber.

A further object of my invention is to limit the thermostat-operating temperatures between predetermined maximum and minimum values.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent in the detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a diagram matic v1ew of my improved heat-regulating apparatus as applied to a hot-air furnace; Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, of the regulating apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view of the regulator; Fig. 4. is an elevational end view thereof;

, Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views of the regulator, illustrating various stages of operation of the regulator dampers; Fig. 8 is an elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of the outer end of my improved regulator damper arm in its open position, and Fig. 9

is a. sectional view taken along the line IXIX of Fig. 8, with the arm in its closed position.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I show a hot-air furnace indicated generally .b the numeral'l, of any suitable construction. The furnace is rovided with a usual jacket or casing 2, an in the upper portion 1929. Serial No. 370,563.

thereof is a hot-air drum 3 from which, through delivery pipes 4, the heated air is conducted to the various rooms or apartments. The furnace is provided with a draft damper 5 and a check damper 6, which may be suitably connected by means of a chain 7 passing over sheaves 8, the chain being of such len th that normally each damper is in its closed position.

By the manipulation of the dampers, the rate of combustion in the furnace may be controlled, and in order to automatically control the combustion in accordance with the furnace temperature, I provide a regulator device 10.

The regulator 10 is provided with a pivotally-mounted damper lever 11 having a latch arm 12 at one end and a movable weight at its other end. The latch arm 12 is pivotally mounted on the lever 11- and its outer end is suitably connected to the chain 7 A latch pin 13 is carried by the latch arm 12 and is biased by a spring member 14. The pin 13 normally extends through the arm 12 and engages a hole or slot in the lever 11,

thereby forming a releasable rigid damper lever, (Figs. 8 and 9). The edges of the lever 11 adjacent to the latch pin hole may be bevelled as at 15 in order that the latch arm may be readily brought into closed position as will be apparent from the drawings. By this arrangement, the regulator may be readily disconnected from the furnace dampers, regulation of the furnace thereby being discontinued and with the dampers in the closed position. Thus, with this construction, it

will be apparent that the dampers will be in the proper position for firing the furnace. The regulatorlO includes a substantially elongated casing 16 which is suitably secured to the jacket 2 of the furnace and extends outwardly therefrom. The outer end of the casing 16 is provided with vents or openings 17 for a purpose hereinafter described.

Mounted interiorly of the casing 16 and adjacent to the vents 17 is an expansible element or bellows 18. The bellows 18 is provided with an operating rod. 19 that extends upwardly through the casing and is pivotally secured to the damper lever 11. The

lever 11 is pivotally mounted on a bracket 20 which is secured to the casing 16, so that upon expansion and contraction of the bellows 18, the lever will be oscillated, thereby causing the dampers 5 and 6 to open or close.

An opening 21 in the top of the casing and located inwardly from the bellows communicates with the atmosphere and is controlled by an auxiliary damper 22 for a purpose hereinafter described.

The inner end of the casing 16 projects into the furnace and is provided with an opening 23 that establishes communication between the interior of the casing 16 and the hot air interior of the furnace. An auxiliary damper 24 is hinged at its upper end to the end wall of the casing 16 and controls the admission of heated air from the furnace into the casing 16. The lower end of the damper 24 is provided with a weight to bias the damper to closed position.

One end of a rod 25 is suitably secured to the damper 24 and it passes upwardly through the opening 21 and the damper 22. The other end of the rod 25 terminates in a hook portion which is engaged by an arm 26 that is secured to the damper lever 11. The rod 25 is free to slide through the damper 22 until a pin member 27 on the rod engages the damper and upon further movement this damper will be opened.

It is to be noted that by this arrangement, I have provided a temperature regulator that operates to control the furnace drafts, and also operates to control the admission of heated air into the bellows chamber. The first controls the temperature of the heated air supply and the second controls the temperature of the bellows chamber, to limit the temperature thereof to a predetermined degree, thus avoiding excessively high temperatures therein. w

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the manner in which the temperature of the bellows chamber is controlled by the auxiliary dampers 22 and 24 is diagrammatically illustrated, together with the directions in which the air currents circulate therein at various stages of heat of the furnace.

Assuming that the furnace and the room are cold, the bellows 18 is collapsed, permitting the lever 11 to rock under influence of the weight thereon, thereby causing the damper 5 to be held open while the dam er 6 will be closed, assuring full draft for a re in the furnace. By the rocking movement of the lever 11, the arm 26 forces the rod. 25 downwardly thereby causing the auxiliar dampers 22 and 24 to be fully closed and opened respectively.

As the temperature of the furnace rises, heated air from the furnace will be admitted to the bellows chamber through the openin 23 and will circulate therethrough and around the bellows 18, passing out through the vents 17 to the atmosphere as shown by the arrows in Fig. 5. The bellows becomes and partially open the check damper 6.

Also, theweight on the damper 24 causes movement of the damper 24 to partially closed position and to partially open the damper 22.

At this stage of furnace temperature as shown in Fig. 6, heated air will enter the bellows chamber as before, but at this time the air is permitted to escape through the opening 21, and only a portion circulates past the bellows. Further increase in temperature causes the check damper 6 to become fully open. With the damper 6 fully open and the damper 5 fully closed, the temperature of the heated air may still increase to an excessive degree, the bellows then expands sufliciently to permit full closure of the damper 24 and consequently full opening of the damper 22. This action-causes a complete isolation of the bellows chamber from the heated air from the furnace and at the same time, the air currents reverse, entering through the vents 17 and leaving through the opening 21. The bellows or other operative mechanism which may be damaged by excessive heat developed in the furnace through sticking of the damper 5' in open position, for instance, are therefore fully protected and at the same time are fully operative to regulate the furnace.

By the reversal of the circulation of the air currents through the bellows chamber, the bellows will be cooled slowly to cause gradual opening of the auxiliary dampers in order that the regulator may operate 1n accordance with the temperature of the heated air. At any time that the temperature of the heated air rises above a maximum degree, the bellows expands sufficiently to cause the isolation thereof.

Upon decrease of temperature of the heated air, the'bellows will contract, permitting the dampers 6 and 22 to close and the dam ers 5 and 24 to open, thus restoring full dra t to the furnace.

In order to regulate the furnace in accordance with the room temperature in conjunction with the furnace tem )erature, as hereinbefore described, I provide a heating device 30 of any suitable type. The heater is securely mounted in the casing 16 in position rearwardly of the bellows 18, and includes a resistor element which is connected to a supply line 31 (Fig. 1). A room switch or thermostat 32 normally maintains the circuit to the heater open. Above a predetern'lincd room temperature, the switch closes the heater circuit.

Assuming as before that the room and furtemperature of the air heated by the furnace rises and is delivered to the room, the rise in temperature therein causes the switch to close, thus energizing the heater. The temperature of the bellows chamber increases to cause operation of the dampers as heretofore described.

It is to be noted that by this arrangement, the furnace is controlled conjointly by room and furnace temperatures and that it is effectively regulated in accordance with the demands. This is true as whenthe outside temperature is relatively high, the furnace need supply only sufficient heat to raise the room temperature to the predetermined degree. By the addition of the extra heat from the heater, the temperature of the bellows chamber rises more quickly and the bellows responds thereto, to operate the dampers before the furnace becomes too hot.

l/Vhenthe outside temperature is relatively low however, the furnace becomes normally hot to supply suflicient heat to raise the room temperature and close the switch. At this time, the temperature of the bellows chamber may be suflicient to close the draft damper, but by the addition of the extra heat from the heater, causes the check damper 6 to be opened fully and the auxiliary dampers operate to reverse the aircurrent circulation. Due to the positioning of the heater 30 and the reversing of the air currents the heat will be carried away from the bellows 18 (Fig. 7 thus assuring protection thereof against excessively high temperatures.

My invention as designed, is especially applicable to hot-air furnaces, but it is not confined thereto. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. A heat regulator comprising in combination, a heating device, a casing, a thermosensitive element in said casing, means controlled by said element for admitting a portion of the medium heated by the said heating device into said casing, and means actuated by said element for controlling the temperature of said heating device.

2. A heat regulator comprising in combination, a heating device, a casing through which air heated to the corresponding temperature of said heating device may normally circulate in one direction, a thermo-sensitive element responsive to variations of temperatures of the heated air, means actuated by said element for regulating the temperature.

of said element to a predetermined degree, and means actuated by said element for re versing the flow of air through said casing upon an increase of temperature in said casing above the predetermined degree.

3. In a hot-air furnace regulator, the combination with a furnace, of'a furnace control device, a thermo-sensitive element responsive to variations in furnace temperatures for operating said device, and means controlled by said element for directing a portion of the hot air from the furnace past said element.

4. In a hot-air furnace regulator, the combination with a furnace, of a furnace control device, a thermo-sensitive element responsive to variations in furnace temperatures for operating said device to control the furnace temperatures, and means actuated by said element to limit the maximum operating temperature of the said element to a predetermined degree.

5. A regulator for hot air furnaces comprising a furnace having a hot air jacket, a casing, a thermostat in said casing, a furnace control device operatively connected to said thermostat, a damper controlled passage between said hot-air jacket and said casing for permitting flow of hot air past said thermostat, and means operatively connecting said damper and said thermostat to control flow of hot air through said casing.

6. The combination with a furnace, of a thermo-sensitive device, connections between said device and the furnace for controlling the furnace, a casing for said device, a damper controlling circulation of air through the casing, and a connection between said damper and the said device, whereby the dam er will be actuated through the operation 0 the device.

7. A heat regulator comprising in combination, a heating device, a casing, a thermosensitive element in the casing responsive to variations in temperature therein, means actuated by said element for controlling the temperature of said heating device, means controlled by said element for admitting a portion of the medium heated by the said heating device into said casing, and heater means actuated in accordance with changes in room temperatures to increase the temperature in the said casing.

8. The combination with a heating device and a regulator therefor, of a thermo-sensitive element for actuating said regulator, a casing for said element, a damper between said heating device and said element for controlling circulation of heated air past said element, connections between said element and said damper for closing said damper upon increase in temperature of the heated air above a predetermined degree, and means effective upon closure of the said damper for reversing flow of air past said element.

9. The combination with a heating device and a regulator therefor, of a thermo-sensitive element for actuating said regulator, a casing for said element, a damper'between said heating device and said element for controlling circulation of heated air past said element, heater means positioned in the casing between said element and the said damper and actuated in accordance with changes in room temperature to further heat the air circulating past said element, means opera.- tively connecting said element and said damper, and means effective upon closure of the said damper for reversing flow of air past said element.

10. The combination with a heating device and a regulator therefor, of a thermo-sensitive element for actuating said regulator, a casing for said element, a damper be tween said heating device and the said element for controlling circulation of heated air through the casing in one direction, means operatively connecting said damper and the said element, and a damper controlled outlet in the casing between the first-mentioned damper and the said element and having connection with the said connecting means whereby the damper will be opened upon the closure of the first-mentioned damper to permit circulation of air through the casing in the opposite direction.

11. The combination with a heating device and a regulator therefor, of a thermo-sensitive element for actuating said regulatoiya casing for said element, a damper between said heating device and the said element for controlling circulation of heated air through the casing in one direction, means operatively conne'ctin said damper and the said element, and a damper controlled outlet in the casing between the first-mentioned damper and the said element and having lost-motion connection with the said connecting means whereby the damper will be opened upon the closure of the first-mentioned damper to permit circulation of air through the casing in the opposite direction.

12. As an article of manufacture, a regulator for heating devices, comprising a casing, a thermo-sensitive element in said casing, control means actuated by said element for controlling the temperature of a heating device, and means controlled by said element for admitting into said casing a portion of the medium heated by such a device.

In testimony whereof I, the said ROBERT E.

NEWELL, have hereunto set my hand.

ROBERT E. NEVELL. 

